UCONN WOMENS'S BASKETBALL: UConn takes on a Notre Dame team that beat them in January

Connecticut's Breanna Stewart (30) drives to the basket while guarded by Notre Dame's Ariel Braker during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Storrs, Conn., Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. Notre Dame won 73-72. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. >> Was there ever any doubt that it would come down to this?

With all the uncertainty in college athletics these days thanks to the volcanic impact of conference realignment, about as close as there is to a sure thing is that the UConn and Notre Dame women's basketball teams will meet on the first Monday of March with a Big East championship at stake.

As was the case a year ago, the Fighting Irish have already secured a share of the regular-season crown. UConn is heading to Notre Dame eyeing a share of the title, which would be the program's unprecedented 17th Big East regular-season title when the teams square off at the Joyce Center Monday night at 7.

"Any time there is a championship at stake it is a big game," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "The fact that the winner gets the trophy makes it a big game. There is life after that game, but that doesn't diminish that it is a big game.

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"I told the team in the locker room that (Saturday's win at South Florida) was the last insignificant game and even (Saturday) you have to win to put yourself in (position to play for the title). Starting Monday, every game has tremendous meaning to it. Monday, if you win, you win the championship. The following Sunday if you get beat you are out of the Big East tournament, two weeks later if you get beat you are out of the NCAA tournament, so every game has huge significance.

"There is two ways kids react to that. One is they shut it down completely, and the other guys, you can see it as March comes there is this glow that comes over them. 'Man, I have been waiting since October for this and it is finally here.' You have to hope you have more of those guys than you do of the other guys."

There is more at stake for UConn than just a title. The Huskies have accomplished a great many things over the last couple of seasons, but there are those who view this current Connecticut team as the "not quite ready for prime-time players." Despite their dismantling of a talented Duke squad and going on the road to crush Stanford, there are some who focus on UConn's inability to close out games against Baylor and Notre Dame when discussing the legacy of these Huskies.

The UConn players can silence those doubters -- for the time being -- with a victory on the road against the second-ranked Fighting Irish.

"There is a lot to do with will," UConn senior guard/forward Kelly Faris. "At this point we have good players, they have good players. We have X's and O's and they have X's and O's. It is not necessarily going to come down to that, it is going to come down to the hustle plays. We say that every time, and in the end it does. If you make a mental mistake, don't box out, those are the types of things in these big games that are going to come down to."

Whether it was the inability to box out late in the 2012 national semifinal, the two missed Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 3-pointers earlier this season, Bria Hartley getting the ball poked away from behind by Notre Dame's Skylar Diggins, there are no lack of "what might have been" plays to serve as motivation for the Huskies.

"It absolutely motivated us, that and every other loss we've had," UConn junior center Stefanie Dolson said. "It is kind of is fuel to our fire. We've been improving, working harder, working on things and making sure we are ready for these big plays. A lot of times when we lose you don't have a chance to redeem yourself, so the fact that we are playing them two times it helps to know what to do and how hard we have to compete."

There's no doubt that Notre Dame will be ready to put up a good fight.

It is that desire to seal to deal which makes this one of head coach Muffet McGraw's favorite teams to coach.

"I think we battle, we really compete in every game we have been in," McGraw said. "I think our younger players have stepped up. Natalie Achonwa, as a first-year starter is really playing exceptionally well. I think Skylar's leadership has been phenomenal this year in the way she has played and the way she has led us."

McGraw also has tremendous respect for UConn's stars especially the duo of Mosqueda-Lewis and Dolson who combined for 57 points in the South Florida victory.

"I think Lewis is having a fantastic year," McGraw said. "She is just deadly from the 3-point line and one of the best shooters in the country. She works for her shots. I think she is one of the players on that team, players pick up that role you saw what she did in the Baylor game, just phenomenal.

"(Dolson's) perimeter game has really improved; she is playing on the outside and shooting the ball really well."